On Friday afternoon, I headed up to Cincinnati to meet up with some friends from Counterparts (the Rush message board) to watch the Reds play the Pirates. These are people who I know primarily from the religion forum at Counterparts.
Patti and Bill were already there when I arrived, and then we sat outside and chatted while waiting for Mike. Mike lives in Minnesota, but was on a 12-day bus tour with his son, visiting various baseball parks in the northeast.
They finally arrived after a few minutes and we all headed over to the Reds Hall of Fame, which is basically a Reds museum. On the way into the museum, we passed Chris Sabo, the former Red and 1988 Rookie of the Year. He was the star third baseman for the Reds’ 1990 World Series team. He still has a flat-top, but has lost the glasses in favor (apparently) of contacts. He basically looks like an accountant or high school math teacher. It’s hard to believe he is a retired professional athlete. Bill, who will absolutely talk to anyone, said hi to him, and Chris returned the greeting as though they knew each other.
The museum was pretty neat, although we didn’t have nearly enough time to look at everything. But they had exhibits going all the way back to the 1869 Reds team that apparently had a 20-game winning streak and was given a parade through the city to recognize their accomplishments. They have a whole wall of 4,256 baseballs, commemorating Pete Rose’s career hit total, as well as a recreation of the Reds’ clubhouse, circa 1990. They even had the actual jersey that Eric Davis was wearing in Game 4 of the 1990 World Series when he dove for a ball and injured himself. According to the sign, the grass stain is still on the shoulder, but I couldn’t see it.
We had nosebleed seats, but the view to Kentucky is spectacular!
The game itself proved to be a disappointment. The Reds played terribly, losing 7-3 to the Pirates, who are about 30 games under .500. Be that as it may, we had a great time chatting throughout the game and talking about religion, as we have a tendency to do.
The one bright spot of the night was when they played an obscure Rush song...The Analog Kid...over the P.A. system in between innings. I've heard them play Rush only one time in all the trips I've made to that park, and that was their most recongizable and popular song, Tom Sawyer, played prior to the game. And yet, on the night when a group of us from the Rush Message Board are at the game, they play a song during the game, and an obscure one at that! I bet less than 100 people in that stadium even knew what song it was!
From left to right, Mike's son Alex, Bill's son Neil, Bill, me, and Mike.
After the game, we all made our separate ways, and I walked back across the Roebling Bridge to where my car was parked.
I took several pictures on the way, and then when I got to the area where my car was, a fireworks show began across the river at the park. So I took some snapshots of the fireworks, although they did not turn out as well as I had hoped.
My camera isn’t all that good for these kinds of shots, I don’t think.
Note to self: Ask for a new camera for Christmas.
I got home about midnight and was then up again on Saturday morning at 7:30 to head to Lake Cumberland. Melanie's parents rented a nice house in a resort area down there for the weekend ($300 a night), and our family, Sarah's family, and Melanie's parents all went down.
Gerald has gotten his boat out this summer for the first time in about 10 years, and has had it worked on for about 3 weeks. So this was the first time actually putting it in the water. The weekend proved not so good for getting on the lake, as it took us a long time to find a suitable boat ramp (there was one right across the road from where we were staying, but Gerald felt it was too steep), and then it rained.
However, the house was nice, and it had a big hot tub and pool table and nice amenities. All in all it was a good weekend, except that both Melanie and I ended up with the runs last night. But hey, you win some you lose some. And in this case, we both lost quite a bit.
This pool table was up in the loft, where there was also a full bathroom and two double beds.
A fully screened in porch, with the only access coming from inside the house. The hot tub was at the far end.
Getting ready to leave on Sunday morning, and back home.
Every time you come to Cincy the Reds lose. Stay out of Great American. :(
ReplyDeleteWhere's a picture of the woman?
I know. That's 0-3 for the Reds when I'm at the game this year. And not only have they lost every game, but they've played like crap in all three of them.
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